new to this.....

[10lber]

Ive been an angler all my life but ive never cast a fly.
Ive had some instruction on casting via youtube and i think ive got the principles.
But I'm confused at which fly patterns i should be trying for fishing stillwaters.
This year i'm trying glencorse (late april),Lake of Menteith(late may and early Sept.) and swanwater(mid June).
Information about the fly and how it should be fished, and a list of maybe 10 flies that I should not be without would be very much appreciated

Thanx and tight lines for the coming season

[GAZJB]

My 10 Must have flies and lures for trout on still waters....
First you will probably want to get your self two lines to start with, Floater and a intermediate for subsurface fishing.

Cant go wrong with a few decent lures.

When lure fishing it best to experiment with the retrieve as the fish sometimes want it fast, when it is cool i find that the fish usually want it a bit slower (not always but bare in mind) fast figure of eight, quick short jerks and long pull there are lots of different retrieve think fishy!

Cats whiskers
Zonkers
humongous
Tadpoles
fritz with marabou tails, i like hot heads and gold heads.
Blobs, these are great for stocked fish.

Boobies, if there is a bit of wind and a good ripple can be deadly dragged fast across the surface or even on an intermediate line, when the booby starts to sink after being dragged on the surface the fish slam them when they are on these also a deadly method but check that the fishery allows boobies?

Nymphs, Buzzers and dries..

Gold Ribbed hares Ear, again i like to tie mine with a gold head but when i fish them on a washing line i use one's without. slow retrieve figure of eight, every now and again give it a tweek. you can also imitate fry with a GRE so a quicker retrieve can be introduced.

Dawal Bach a welsh nymph that is fantastic when the fish are on the search for hatchers. figure of eight give it an odd tweek.

klikhammer dry fly great all rounder and very buoyant. cast to rising fish if they refuse give it a tweek and watch them change their minds :)

CDC F Fly another great all rounder these two will work on most rising occasion, i have even caught fish feeding sedge with the f fly but trout feeding on any fly seem to show some interest in the F fly. add some Gink for extra float.

Buzzers, well this is a technique in it own category. Black buzzers seem to be the most popular but there are many many different colours. these can be fished in so many different ways... for a beginner, mid season, tie a buzzer on a 15 foot leader on the floating line cast to likely places and let the buzzer drift but try to keep contact and don't allow massive bows to form in your line or you will not even see a take or when you do the fish will have gone before you take up the slack.

This should give you some things that you can look into, i suggest do lots of reading and watch some hywel morgan on TV great to learn from.

Good Luck. If you need any more help PM me.

[10lber]

Thanks Gazjb some great information there
I look forward to trying the flies you mentioned and thanks for including the methods of fishing them. First class.

You mentioned the figure eight retrieve. This is another new thing to me so i'll you tube that too.

I'll let you know how i go through the forum catch reports

[GAZJB]

No worries 10lber keep it simple to get results to start off with or it will just become overwhelming and frustrating!
Tight Lines and keep us up to date!

[ConnorW]

Just ask people when you are there as well, they are always happy to help. I know from my personal experience

Good luck mate

[chub1]

Originally Posted by GAZJB

No worries 10lber keep it simple to get results to start off with or it will just become overwhelming and frustrating!
Tight Lines and keep us up to date!

No no
you will need at least a dozen boxes full of different flies

Seriously,GAZJB is quite right,try and keep it simple,talk to the fishery managers and the locals and see what the favorites are and try and stick to a handull of patterns to start with,then
you can progress to half hundredweight of the things later

[10lber]

That's good news. I like to keep things simple.
However.
I'd like to know what nymphs hatch first and about what month i should be fishing them.
I.E. there's not much point in fishing a damsel dry fly in march because they dont hatch until late summer. so just a quick hatching plan of the common or garden flies and when to fish them would be useful.

[GAZJB]

Now you are starting to get technical, at this stage don't worry to much about what time what hatches because you do get certain seasons for certain water born insects, however it has more to do with weather conditions and water temperature than it as to do with certain dates or exact months. Allot of the fly are actually terrestrial and are blown onto the water, so it is best to learn what each insect looks like rather than expecting them to be there, be prepared to see a insect and identify it rather than waiting for a certain insect to hatch or you will be sat by the water a long time. If you are worried about not having the right flies at certain times of year, i would suggest that you invest in a monthly fly fishing magazine for a year, each moth it will tell you what flies are best for each month. This is what i did in my first year and i still have them all just in case i need to double check on what may be going on this month? Remember keep it simple and like Chub 1 said ask others when you are fishing or ring the fishery beforehand for tackle advice. Good Luck

[chub1]

Originally Posted by 10lber

That's good news. I like to keep things simple.
However.
I'd like to know what nymphs hatch first and about what month i should be fishing them.
I.E. there's not much point in fishing a damsel dry fly in march because they dont hatch until late summer. so just a quick hatching plan of the common or garden flies and when to fish them would be useful.

Blimey,what hatches out down here in Surrey in April,might not hatch out until June in the north.To be honest i have never seen a damsel taklen from the surface,however they probably are.Most damsel patterns are fished subsurface.Buzzers(midges) can hatch all year round in varying amounts,so always worth a try.Klinkhammers are a good general dry,Daddy's/Hoppers can be used throughout the spring/summer and autumn,either surface or twitched sub surface.Flies such as Hares Ears can represent many types of nymph and Pheasant tailed nymphs are a good bet.Don't bog yourself down with specifics yet.Chances are if fish are topping then a hopper/daddy or Klinkhammer will nail a few and the good old damsel fished anytime anywhere will nail fish as well.
Good luck